


For Want of a Leash

by Scrawlers



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Role Swap AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:32:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8140750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrawlers/pseuds/Scrawlers
Summary: Manon is a seventeen-year-old trainer in Lysandre’s employ, collecting mega evolution energy as she trains to become the greatest. Alan is a twelve-year-old boy working as Professor Sycamore’s assistant, searching for mega stones in order to aid the professor in his research. By happenstance, their paths cross.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a role swap AU, as noted by the tags/implied by the summary, and I wrote it a while ago while giving myself two stipulations:
> 
> 1.) The age difference would be kept as it is in canon, but reversed. Since I headcanon that Alan left Professor Sycamore's lab when he was twelve, and that he and Manon have five years between them in canon, this makes him twelve and Manon seventeen in this fic.
> 
> 2.) Their canonical personalities would be adhered to, albeit adjusted depending on age/circumstance. In other words, this is not a role reversal where Manon takes on Alan's canonical personality and Alan takes on Manon's. Instead, it was important to me that Alan was still recognizably Alan, that Manon was still recognizably Manon, and that all of their canonical personality traits--both good and bad--shined through, with the situation altering accordingly.
> 
> With that said, here's this.

Manon didn’t think she had ever seen such a bizarre sight in her life, though for the sake of her she couldn’t determine why it struck her as odd.

The boy was a newbie trainer, from the look of him. He looked a bit older than the standard newbie trainer, maybe around twelve instead of ten, but the charmander seated on the grass beside him marked him as a beginner if nothing else. The two of them were seated out on the little grassy outcropping overlooking the route down below, the boy sitting cross-legged and munching on an apple as his charmander leaned against his leg. Before the boy and charmander was a large map, spread out over the grass, and in the hand not holding the apple the boy held a pencil, gesturing to certain points on the map and marking others in turn.

It wasn’t that odd of a scene, Manon thought. Plenty of trainers were smart enough to use maps, even if she never cared for them herself (not because she wasn’t _smart_ , but because she was smart _enough_ to not need them). It shouldn’t have been that odd to her, but for some reason she couldn’t help but get closer to the boy as he poured over the map with his charmander, picking up on what he was saying once she got close enough to listen in.

“. . . one’s closer, so I think we should head here next,” he said, and he jabbed another point with his pencil. His charmander said something in response, crouching down to touch another part of the map with his paw. The boy shook his head. “No, I don’t think we’ll find anything there that’s worth going out of the way for.” The boy’s charmander frowned and said something else, to which the boy sighed. “It _is_ out of the way. Look, we’re here, so if we wanted to go to that cave—” The boy’s charmander cut him off, and the boy huffed. “I know that there _might_ be Mega Stones there, but remember what the book said? There’s a good chance there are Mega Stones in this cave over here, too, so—”

“Mega Stones?”

Manon repeated the words before she could help herself, and even as she clapped a hand over her mouth to try and take them back, both the boy and his charmander turned to look at her. Poised beside a tree as she was, she wasn’t exactly hidden, but even as the boy blinked and jumped to his feet (dropping his apple on the grass in the process), Manon reminded herself that she didn’t exactly need to _hide_. He was a newbie trainer. What threat did he pose?

“Who are you?” the boy asked. The charmander by his feet looked similarly wary.

Manon smiled widely. “I’m Manon, the best mega evolution trainer this side of the planet. And you are?”

“Mega evolution?” the boy’s eyes widened to the size of electrode, and in the next second he cast an excited look down at his charmander, who beamed similarly up at him. “Lizardon, did you hear that? She can use mega evolution! This could be the break we’ve been looking for!” His charmander let loose an excited cry in response.

Manon frowned. “Hey hey, don’t ignore me. What’s your name?”

“Which pokémon do you have that can mega evolve?” the boy asked instead, and he took a step closer, his blue eyes shining brightly. Before Manon could answer, he shook his head. “No, never mind that. You use stones to evolve them, don’t you? A Mega Stone, and one other? Could I examine them, please?”

He still hadn’t answered her question (what kind of rude child didn’t introduce himself when asked?), and that was enough to make Manon puff her cheeks a little in consternation, but his bright-eyed curiosity and his desire to see her Key Stone meant that she had something he wanted, and that was enough to make her smile a little slyly. “You want to see them?” she asked. “You really, _really_ want to see?”

“Yes,” he said, and after a second’s thought added, “Please.” His charmander echoed his sentiment.

“Well . . .” Manon drawled, taking several steps backward as she pulled her venusaur’s pokéball from her pocket. “If you insist . . . Fushi-kun, you’re on!”

Her venusaur appeared in a burst of light, and Manon laughed as the boy gasped in surprise and took several stumbling steps backwards, scooping up his charmander in the process. With a fierce grin, Manon touched her fingers to the Key Stone latched around her wrist and called:

“Key Stone, hear my cry! Unleash your true power—mega evolve!”

The Venusaurite clasped onto Fushi-kun’s forehead glowed brilliantly in response to the light emanating from Manon’s Key Stone, and Fushi-kun let out a piercing roar as his features shifted and changed in response to the mega evolution. Manon’s cheeks hurt from the force of her smile at the astonished look on the boy’s face; his eyes were nearly popping from his skull.

“How’s that?” she asked, once the mega evolution was finished. She walked around to stand by Fushi-kun’s side, and leaned against his head, patting his scales affectionately. The boy gaped at the pair of them, opened and closed his mouth repeatedly once or twice, and then immediately bounded over.

“That . . . that’s . . . incredible! Marvelous!” he gushed, and Manon’s pride swelled as he took her hand, turning her wrist over so he could gaze at her Key Stone, his charmander clambering up onto his shoulders in the process. “You called this a Key Stone, didn’t you? And that stone on your venusaur’s forehead—that would be the Mega Stone?”

“Yep! Venusaurite.”

“Amazing,” the boy breathed. He shifted his attention to the Venusarite on Fushi-kun’s forehead, gently rubbing one finger across it. “So the Key Stone does work in conjunction with the Mega Stone to induce mega evolution, but only when the trainer wills it . . .” He paused, frowning slightly, before he looked back at Manon. “I thought mega evolution only worked in battle?”

“In most cases,” Manon replied breezily, and she dusted her fingers across her shoulder. “But when you’re as capable of a trainer as me, and as capable of a pokémon as Fushi-kun, then it’s possible to induce mega evolution under certain other conditions, too. At least temporarily.”

“I see . . .” The boy stepped back, still smiling, his cheeks flushed as he turned to the charmander on his shoulder. “We better go, huh? If we head back now we should make it to the Pokémon Center before dark. I can’t wait to tell the Professor about this!” His charmander squealed happily in agreement.

Manon’s joy, however, faded, and with it Fushi-kun’s mega evolution. She recalled him as the effect wore off, and stuffed his pokéball back in her pocket. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes. Thank you very much for the demonstration. You’ve been very helpful,” the boy said. He bowed once to her, courteously, and then turned back to his little campsite. “Lizardon, do you want to finish that apple? I don’t want to leave it on the ground, but I’m too excited to eat it now, either.”

As the boy quickly folded up the map into a square small enough to fit in the travel pack he had slung around his waist, his charmander scooped the apple up off the grass and proceeded to munch on it. Manon scowled, an uneasy, uncomfortable feeling of disappointment taking up root in her stomach.

“What’s the rush?” she asked. “You don’t have to run off so soon. I’ve got loads more I can tell you. You haven’t even seen Fushi-kun in battle yet. I can give you a demonstration of that, if you want.”

“That’s okay. What I’m looking for are Mega and Key Stones, but I need to report in to Professor Sycamore and tell him about this first,” the boy said. He stuffed the map into his travel pack, and then crouched down so that his charmander could climb back onto his shoulders. Manon was still frowning, her eyebrows knitted together, as the boy gave her a smile. “So thank you very much for all that you’ve shared with me. I’m sure it will be helpful moving forward. Goodbye!”

The boy turned and started back down the hill, the energy he was buzzing with pushing him to nearly a run. Manon watched him go for a second, quarreling with whether or not she should just let him leave, before she started after him.

He said that he was going to talk to Professor Sycamore, and that meant that he could possibly have information that would be of use to her, too. If nothing else, the connection to Professor Sycamore could be something valuable to the director. Keeping an eye on this boy could be useful. And besides . . .

. . . traveling by herself was lonely.

**\- - -**

“I appreciate the offer, but I can make it by myself. You don’t need to come with me.”

“No offense, but you only have a weak little charmander. If you run into any trouble, they will eat you alive,” Manon said, and both boy (whose name Manon now knew was Alan) and charmander scowled as she booped the charmander on the nose. “Besides, you’ve got that backwards. It’s not that _I’m_ coming along with _you_ ; it’s that _you’re_ coming along with _me_!”

They were seated on a bench in the Pokémon Center, Manon having grabbed Alan after he finished telling Professor Sycamore about the mega evolution he had witnessed, as well as the tidbit about how it wasn’t necessarily battle related. Manon had listened in on the conversation from a short distance away—she hadn’t seen or spoken to Professor Sycamore since he had given her Hari-san nearly seven years ago now, and she didn’t want to change that just then—but what she had overheard only cemented her decision to take Alan along with her even more.

Alan’s scowl didn’t waver. “Lizardon is not _weak_ ,” he said, “and I—”

“Oh yeah? Want to prove that in a battle with me?” Manon asked. Alan’s scowl wavered into a look of uncertainty, and she grinned fiercely. “You can battle against me and Fushi-kun. Or it doesn’t have to be Fushi-kun; I have others. Let’s see, there’s my chesnaught, Hari-san. There’s my florges, Fla-chan—”

“You know we’re Kalosean, right? Not Kanto- or Johtonese?” Alan interrupted.

Manon narrowed her eyes. “And you know you’re being rude, right? Besides, who are you to talk? You named your charmander ‘Lizardon.’”

“Because it sounds cool,” Alan said defensively, as his charmander growled at her. “And he’s a Kanto-native pokémon, and he’ll be a charizard someday—”

“So? It’s still you naming him the Kanto name for him, so don’t knock my nicknames,” Manon huffed. Alan seemed to have no response. “Anyway, listen. You want to find Mega Stones, right?”

“And Key Stones,” Alan said.

“Right, right! Well, it just so happens that my director gives me instructions on exactly where those Mega Stones and Key Stones are,” she said, and she held up her Holo Caster as proof. Alan blinked, and she could practically see the curiosity rise in his eyes. “So if you come with me, you’ll find some. So how about it?”

“Couldn’t you just tell me where they are?” Alan asked instead.

Manon frowned. “No. Why are you so eager to run away from me? Traveling with a companion’s not bad.”

“I just want to travel with Lizardon,” Alan said, and his charmander hummed in agreement.

“And you _will_ travel wih Lizardon, but you’ll also travel with me,” Manon said with a huff, and before Alan could protest further, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him off the bench. “Now come on, come on! Time’s a-wastin’!”

**\- - -**

Within three days Manon was seriously considering investing in a child leash.

“Will you _stop_ wandering off?!” she demanded, and she slammed one hand down on the table she found Alan standing beside. A young blonde woman was seated at the table, her absol beside her, and all three looked up at Manon in alarm. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop wandering off without me?”

“I just wanted to ask her a question about the Key Stone she’s wearing,” Alan said, and he gestured to the blonde trainer at the table before he turned to her with an apologetic look. “Sorry, I didn’t ask your name before.”

“It’s fine. I’m Ayaka,” the woman said, and she raised her eyebrows at Manon. “Do you always scream at your little brother like this? It isn’t a very nice way to treat him.”

Manon rolled her eyes. “He isn’t my brother. And if you have questions about Key Stones, you can ask _me_ ,” she said, looking back at Alan. He scowled back at her. “Now come on, let’s go. We have places to be.”

“You aren’t the only mega evolution user on the planet,” Alan said, and he didn’t budge from his spot. “Ayaka can mega evolve her absol. I wanted to ask—”

“I can introduce you to another Mega Absol user later. Now come on, let’s go.” Manon put a hand on Alan’s shoulder to push him away from the table, and gave Ayaka a tight smile. “Sorry for the trouble. Have a nice day.”

“You too,” Ayaka said, but her frown made her tone less than sincere.

**\- - -**

“Hi, Professor.”

“Alan! Good timing; I was just settling down for some lunch. How are you?”

“I’m good. I just wanted to call and give you a quick update on my travels.”

“Always appreciated. Where are you now?”

“Coumarine City, but . . .” Alan sighed, and Manon—leaning against the wall with her arms folded—tried not to let it bother her how unenthusiastic he sounded. “Apparently I’m going to Hoenn.”

“Apparently?”

That was enough to make Manon push off the wall and finally dip into view of the video phone, placing her arm on top of Alan’s head as she did so. She leaned her weight against him when he tried to squirm out from under her, and gave Professor Sycamore a bright smile and wave in response to his bewildered look. “Hi, Professor! Manon here—do you remember me?”

“Manon? Hmm . . . oh, yes! You decided to adopt a chespin, didn’t you?” Professor Sycamore asked, and he smiled. “You’ve really grown since the last time I saw you. How many years has it been now?”

“Seven,” Manon said, and she felt pleased at how impressed Professor Sycamore looked. “But listen, listen—Alan and I are traveling together now. We’re travel buddies!”

“You are?” Professor Sycamore’s earlier surprise returned, and Manon nodded.

“Yep! Alan and I met when he saw how awesome it is that I can mega evolve my venusaur—”

“You were watching me from behind a tree,” Alan muttered.

“—and since he’s looking into mega evolution for you, I thought I’d bring him along since I know where the stones can be found. It’s why we’re headed to Hoenn, actually; I’ve got a good tip that some Mega Stones can be found there.”

“Really? That’s interesting; all reports of mega evolution I’ve heard have been from here in Kalos,” Professor Sycamore said. “You’re sure that Mega Stones can be found in Hoenn?”

“Absolutely,” Manon said, and she winked. “Trust me, my information comes from a _very_ good source.”

Professor Sycamore smiled. “Well, if you’re that sure, I believe you. Do me a favor and keep a close eye on Alan, would you?”

“Of course I will!”

“And Alan?” Professor Sycamore waited until Alan looked back at him, and then smiled gently. “Take care of yourself and be safe. Call me when you get there.”

Alan nodded, and smiled back himself. “I will, Professor.”

“Good. And good luck to both of you!”

“Thanks, Professor! Bye!” Manon waved again as Professor Sycamore ended the call, and stepped back from Alan to give him another look over. Now that she thought on it, his dark hair and blue eyes weren’t unlike Professor Sycamore’s. He was constantly calling to check in, Professor Sycamore seemed rather concerned with his safety . . . “Hey, Alan. Are you Professor Sycamore’s kid?”

“What?” Alan shot her a surprised look before his face fell and he turned away. “No. I’m just his assistant, I told you.”

“Oh. Because I was just thinking, you two kind of look alike, and—”

“Aren’t we supposed to be going to Hoenn? You’re always in a rush, aren’t you?” Alan asked, and he turned to head toward the boarding gate for their plane, his hands shoved into his pockets as his charmander nuzzled against his head.

“No, no! I mean, yes—I mean—wait up and stop running off!” Manon said, and she ignored the stares her shout attracted as she chased after him.

**\- - -**

Alan had called Professor Sycamore from the airport once they landed in Hoenn, just as he had promised. He and Manon had then set off to find the megalith, just as the director had instructed. What they hadn’t planned on (though perhaps Manon should have expected) was for Manon’s concentration on the Holo Caster map to result in her tripping down a hill right in front of her feet, her ankle getting stuck in a bramble thicket. But even she couldn’t have expected her rescuer to be Hoenn’s Champion, Steven Stone, or for him to accept the battle she challenged him to so that she could have another chance to show Alan exactly what she was made of. (Because if nothing else, that _had_ to get him to stop being so surly, didn’t it?)

Steven was far more of a challenge than Manon had anticipated, however, and his metagross was giving Fushi-kun more than a run for his money, particularly given its resistance to grass. But Manon was holding her own, Alan seated a short distance away so that he wouldn’t be involved in the fighting, until a fierce flamethrower interrupted their match, accompanied by a loud roar.

Manon’s heart shot to life in her chest.

Could it be—?

It was.

Her director, Lysandre of Fleur-De-Lis Labs, strode down the hill next to his pyroar, his eyes trained on Steven Stone. Manon stood up straighter and hastily recalled Fushi-kun, stuffing his pokéball back into her pocket as if to hide the fact that she had just been showing off. The director had never been much of a fan of bravado—he thought it was worth more to prove yourself with dignity rather than brag—but it always made Manon feel better, and (though she would never say this to his face) she didn’t think it really counted as _bragging_ if it was true.

“I must apologize for my subordinate’s rudeness,” the director said, and he bowed courteously to Steven. Alan rose from his place on the grass, his charmander clinging to his shoulders as always, and crept closer. “It seems she wasn’t aware of who you are, Champion.”

“N-No, I knew,” Manon said, and she held her arms more stiffly against her sides as Lysandre turned to give her a cool stare. “I wanted—I wanted to battle him _because_ he’s the Champion. I thought—you know—it might be good experience, and I could learn a lot, and I know I need to become stronger if I’m going to be the best and stand at the top, and that means battling the best trainers out there, which the Champion of Hoenn is—I-I mean, he’s _one of_ the best trainers out there, obviously he’s not really on your level, or anything—”

“Are you Manon’s director?”

Alan didn’t raise his voice, but he still easily cut through Manon’s rambling speech, and not for the first time she wanted to kick herself for not investing in a child leash. The director peered down at Alan, who stared unashamedly back up at him, and Manon hissed, “Alan—!”

“Hmm. Manon, who is this child?” the director asked, glancing over at her.

Manon forced a nervous laugh, and rubbed at the back of her neck. “Oh, him! He’s just a kid I—well, actually, it’s a funny story. See, we’re traveling together because I came across him while I was traveling, and he’s interested in and studying mega evolution, so I thought it might be a good idea if we—”

“My name is Alan,” Alan interrupted again, and Manon clamped her teeth together to bite back the whine of frustration in her throat. “I’m Professor Sycamore’s research assistant. And this is my partner, Lizardon.” His charmander let out a small cry of introduction, and raised one paw into the air.

“I see.” The director bent down to examine Alan more closely, and after a moment he sent a smirk Manon’s way. “You’ve found yourself quite a small boyfriend, Manon.”

“B-Boyfriend?!” Manon cried, and she hastily waved her hands to dispel the insinuation. “No, no, no! He’s not my boyfriend! He’s just a kid—”

“She kidnapped me,” Alan said flatly.

Manon glowered at him. “For the last time, you haven’t been kidnapped! We’re traveling buddies! B-U-D-D-I-E-S!”

“You just decided that. I never agreed to it,” Alan said.

Manon huffed a sigh. “Whatever! Look, just—just go sit over there while I talk to the director. And _don’t_ wander off, I mean it! I’ll come find you!”

“Because that doesn’t sound like something a kidnapper says to her hostage,” Alan muttered, and Manon glared fiercely at him as he sighed. “Fine, fine. Lizardon, come on. We can look over the map while we wait.”

**\- - -**

Manon could not believe her eyes. She had thought Alan was sensible. She had thought that, surly little punk though he was, he had a good head on his shoulders.

But as Mega Rayquaza descended upon them, enraged by the sight of the megalith, and powered up an attack, Alan thrust his arm out to point at it and shouted, “Lizardon! Flamethrower!”

His charmander leaped off his shoulders with a battle cry, and sent a stream of fire blazing toward Mega Rayquaza’s face. Mega Rayquaza was, unsurprisingly, unfazed; it batted the flames away as if they were nothing more than irksome flies, and in the next second called down a Draco Meteor attack that rained comets from the sky.

“Wh-What is . . . Lizardon!” Alan bolted forward, diving for his charmander as Manon threw herself out from behind a nearby rock, charging toward Alan for all that she was worth.

“Alan! _Move_!”

Manon tackled Alan just as he grabbed his charmander, and threw both of them to the side. Her shoulder struck the ground hard as rocks and rubble poured down around them, half-burying them beneath the stones. Alan and his charmander were shielded beneath her, and when she opened her eyes to look at them, she saw Alan staring back at her with wide eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked, drawing away from him.

He nodded, looking shell-shocked. “You . . . protected me,” he said.

“Of course I did. We’re traveling buddies, aren’t we?” Manon asked, and she smiled.

For what felt like the first time since they had met, Alan smiled back at her. “Yeah.”

**\- - -**

“. . . and if that happens,” Steven said, as a cold sweat broke out over Manon’s skin, her heart pounding in her ears, “then the world will . . .”

He didn’t need to finish his sentence. Everyone gathered there—including the director, listening in via video conference call—knew what he was going to say.

Alan was the first to speak up. “Then we should go there—to where they’re headed. We need to do something to stop them.”

“Or at least observe them,” Steven said, and he nodded as Manon stared at Alan in appalled horror. “The meeting point isn’t too far from here, but it is still out at sea. I’ll prepare transport for us.”

“Would it be too much to ask for you to take my subordinate along as well?” the director asked. Steven looked back at the monitor, but Manon didn’t remove her eyes from Alan.

“No, I wouldn’t mind her coming along,” Steven said.

“Thank you. Manon, I will count on you,” the director said. Manon said nothing as the video feed cut out, her voice stuck to her throat worse than a glob of peanut butter.

The world was ending. The world was set to end thanks to Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon duking it out. Their fight was bound to be catastrophic, more violent and damaging than the attack Mega Rayquaza had unleashed at the megalith site. And yet . . . and yet they wanted to . . . _Alan_ wanted to . . .

“I’m going to go ready the transport vehicle,” Steven said, and he started toward the door. As Alan turned to follow, Manon finally found her voice.

“Wait! Wait,” she said, and both Steven and Alan turned to look back at her. “This is—shouldn’t we think about this first? This is incredibly dangerous. We can’t just—go out there and do something about it. We can’t just go out there.”

“We’re only going to observe from the sky,” Steven said, and he smiled at her. Manon didn’t return it. “It’ll be perfectly fine.”

Alan looked between them, frowning, and after a second said, “Mr Stone, could you . . . I want to talk to Manon alone for a minute. Is that okay?”

Steven blinked, off-guard, before he nodded. “Of course. I’ll go on head.”

Alan smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”

Both Manon and Alan waited until Steven had left the room, the door closing behind him, before they turned and spoke to each other at the same time, Alan asking, “What’s going on with you?” as Manon said, “We aren't going.”

“What?” Alan asked.

“We aren’t going,” Manon repeated, and as Alan stared at her, flabbergasted, she said, “It’s too dangerous. Mega Rayquaza nearly killed us—my shoulder _still_ hurts—and now you want to—we’re supposed to go fight _two_ of them? No. It’s too dangerous, we’ll get killed. We’re not going.”

“But we can’t just . . . we can’t just do _nothing_ ,” Alan protested. “You heard what Mr Stone said. Primal reversion makes Kyogre and Groudon even more powerful, and their fight could destroy the world. We have to stop it.”

“How?” Manon demanded. “How do you expect to go about doing that? Your charmander could barely do a thing against Mega Rayquaza. You really think he can fight Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre?”

“I know that he can try,” Alan said, and Manon loosed a humorless laugh as she tossed her hands in the air. “And I know that you’re strong. Your pokémon—”

“My pokémon aren’t getting anywhere near those things,” Manon snapped. “And neither are you. We’re staying here.”

“We can’t!” Alan said, and he balled his hands into fists as he took a step closer to her. Manon glared at him. “The world is going to end! We can’t just stand here and—”

“And what? You still haven’t said what you plan to do! You’re weak, you’re—you’re a child, a weak little kid who doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into—”

“I know that the world is going to be destroyed if I don’t do something, and that people will be hurt, and that since I know about it I have to do something about it,” Alan fired back. “I know that sitting on my hands while I know that there’s something to be done is wrong. I know that I have to use what I know to fight back.”

“And if you die in the process?” Manon demanded. “What then? What use will you be to anyone then?”

“I don’t know,” Alan admitted after a moment. “But I don’t intend to die. I’ll be with Lizardon, and Mr Stone—”

“That’s right—Steven is going, so let him handle it! He’s the Champion, it’s _his_ job, _we_ don’t have to—”

“—and you! I’d be with you, too, if you were going, which you should,” Alan finished. They stared at each other for a beat, Alan looking at her as if it was his first time truly seeing her. Somehow, it made her feel as if she was the tiny one instead of him. “I thought you were strong,” he said. “And brave . . . I thought you were the best mega evolution trainer this side of the planet.”

“I am,” Manon said.

“Then why are you running and hiding while the world is ending?” Alan asked, but he turned away before she could find a response. “I’m going with Mr Stone. You can stay here if you want, but Lizardon and I have a job to do. Come on, Lizardon.”

“Alan,” Manon said, and though she made to grab his arm he side-stepped her and bolted for the door. “Alan! Get back—!”

But it was too late. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving her standing there in the quiet of the empty room.

He was stupid. He was such a stupid little kid. To think she had ever thought he was smart—ha! What a laugh. For a professor’s assistant, he was dumber than a PC box of slowpoke. He was—he didn’t have a shred of common sense.

Manon swallowed hard, but it did nothing to dispel the lump in her throat.

He was stupid, and reckless, and foolish, and—and in danger, because of all of that. He was in danger, he was going to _die_ , because he was stupid, and reckless, and foolish. He heard the world was ending and ran straight toward the danger instead of away from it, and if she hadn’t been there at the megalith site . . . if she hadn’t protected him then, he would have . . .

Tears stung at her eyes, and she wiped them away. She was strong. She was the best mega evolution trainer this side of the planet, and that meant that she couldn’t stand around crying. What was it that he had said? That sitting on his hands while he knew there was something to be done was wrong?

Manon didn’t know how the world was going to end up. She didn’t particularly care too much, either, at least not when it came to doing something about it herself. But however stupid and snarky and stubborn that kid could be, she cared about him, and there was no way she could sit on _her_ hands while he was out there risking his neck like some kind of wannabe hero.

She ran for the door.

**\- - -**

_“Manon, this message is only for you. Protect the megalith from those two at all costs.”_

Manon’s heart thudded wildly as she pressed the communicator into her ear, and she turned away from Steven and Alan so that neither one of them would hear her. “D-Director,” she whispered. “I—with due respect, I don’t think my—my pokémon can hold up against—”

 _“Are you saying you’re too weak to handle the job?”_ the director asked. _“If I made the wrong choice by giving you that Key Stone and Venusaurite, then—”_

“No! No, no, no! Everything’s—I’m—!” Manon swallowed hard, and lowered her voice as Alan looked over at her curiously. “I . . . I understand. I will do my best to protect the megalith. You can count on me, and also—well, Fushi-kun and Hari-san can’t fly, but Tro-san can, so actually, you can count on all of us and we will—”

 _“Good,”_ the director said, and Manon clamped her mouth shut. _“See to it.”_

“Yes—” The private communication ended, and Manon finished more quietly, “—sir.”

She stood off to the side for a moment more, feeling ill and like crying would be a good idea right about then, but rather than let herself succumb to the urge she turned back to the open door of the plane. Hari-san and Fushi-kun were the strongest pokémon she had, but neither could fly and she wasn’t comfortable with sending them down to ground level while she was stationed in the air. So, just as she had told the director she would, she pulled her tropius’ pokéball from her pocket with trembling fingers, and released her to fly beside their plane.

“Tro-san, you’re on,” she said, and she gave her tropius a shaky smile as Steven gave her an alarmed look. Alan bounded up off his seat, his charmander in his arms and an excited smile on his face.

“That’s a great idea, Manon!” he said, and before Manon could say anything, Alan tossed his charmander onto Tro-san’s head. “Lizardon, you go help, too!”

“Are you seriously sending your charmander into fight?” Manon demanded, as Tro-san wheeled in the sky and headed toward the battle. “That’s suici—Tro-san, no! Come back!”

“Lizardon can help,” Alan said. “And he’s with your tropius, so—”

“My tropius is not as strong as those two legendary pokémon!” Manon cried.

“Then why are you sending her into battle?”

Before Manon could answer, Steven sighed heavily, and retrieved his metagross’ pokéball from his own pocket. “I can’t believe either of you,” he said, and he gave his Key Stone a quick kiss before it began to glow brilliantly in the dark light of the plane. “We’ll _all_ protect the megalith. Together. Get ready.”

Alan nodded before he turned back toward the open door of the plane. “Yes, sir.”

Manon looked back out at Tro-san and Lizardon, the tiny charmander clinging to her tropius’ head for dear life, and fought back tears as every cell in her body willed the situation to be all right.

**\- - -**

It wasn’t all right. Nothing was okay.

Alan’s charmander had been dislodged from Tro-san’s head during the battle, tumbling down to the ice below. Before Manon could grab him Alan threw himself from the plane, swinging down a rope so that he could charge across the ice toward his fallen pokémon. Never mind the legendaries that were battling; never mind the danger he was in; no, the only thought he had was for Lizardon, down there collapsed upon the ice. The fact that Primal Groudon chucked Primal Kyogre at him a moment later was something that—judging from his wide eyes and gaping mouth—he hadn’t even considered could happen.

Manon had gone after him, of course. He was her responsibility, her foolish little . . . tagalong kid, for lack of a better word. She had to protect him. If anything happened to him, she couldn’t . . . well, she couldn’t live with herself. She recalled Tro-san and reached Alan after he had already been thrown what felt like fifty feet across the ice by another attack, and gathered him in her arms as Steven’s metagross shielded them from another blow. Manon carried Alan to a small ice cave, and this time she did cry a little as she felt his chest rise and fall with his breathing, and felt his pulse fluttering beneath her fingers.

He was alive. Thank Xerneas, he was alive. But although that situation was resolved, and the director managed to recover the megalith, Manon couldn’t help the feeling of nausea that had her stomach in knots, or the pure terror that surged through her every time she allowed herself to think of what _could_ have happened instead. Even when Alan regained consciousness and smiled at her, she couldn’t help but think about what could happen the next time he decided to run off without permission. He was always running off, and had absolutely no regard for the amount of danger he was running into in the process. Even if they parted ways now, there was no telling what lay out there. There was no telling what life-threatening catastrophe his little hero complex could have him running into next.

So when it came time for her to return to Kalos, Manon took Alan by the hand and pulled him along with her, not letting him go until they were both safely boarded on the plane. And when they disembarked, she took him by the hand yet again and didn’t release him until they were in Fleur-De-Lis Labs and the director told her she had to.

“Stay here,” Manon told him, and she pointed to a spot on the floor, nearest the director’s door. “Sit there and don’t move.”

“Why not?” Alan asked, and Manon bit back a cry of frustration. “I’m hungry. I thought Lizardon and I might—”

Manon pulled a granola bar from her bag and tossed it at him. “Here. Eat that. I’m going to go speak with the director now; I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Alan frowned at her, but nonetheless picked up the granola bar and tore at the wrapper. “Fine, okay.”

Manon nodded and said, “Good,” before she turned and followed the director into his office.

The moment the door was closed, the director spoke, his voice lacking any emotion that Manon could use to get a real read on how he felt. “Why have you brought that child back here, Manon?”

“I . . . It was dangerous to leave him behind,” Manon said, and she cleared her throat to try and force more strength into it. The director didn’t look at her; he stared out of the window inside. Beside him, his pyroar yawned and stretched. “I—he’s always getting into trouble. Always running off. He almost got himself killed trying to protect his charmander against Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, and he would have if I hadn’t been there to save him, and—”

“You weren’t there to save him,” the director said mildly. He stroked his pyroar’s mane. “You were there to defend the megalith.”

“And I did! Or I . . . I tried to,” she said, faltering. The director said nothing, and Manon balled her hands into fists as she hung her head. “I did my best, I really did. But then Alan ran out onto the ice, and that was after Tro-san was already struck down and Lizardon—that’s Alan’s charmander—went flying, and I—I know I wasn’t supposed to, or maybe I shouldn’t have, or maybe I should have sent Fushi-kun or Hari-san against Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon next, but you know, Primal Groudon is part fire-type and my pokémon are grass-types, and Alan was unconscious after being thrown fifty feet, and—”

“How important is that child to you?”

“—just—sir?”

“You keep bringing him up. You speak of his safety, of his life . . .” The director finally turned to her, and Manon felt as if his eyes were stabbing directly into her soul. “I’ve never heard you speak of anyone else like this before. How important is that child to you?”

He was just a kid. Just a kid that Manon found on the edge of a forest, a kid that was interested in mega evolution, a kid that she had tag along with her because she wanted company and figured that it was justifiable if he was familiar with the field that she was working in. But he was dedicated, determined, and (for a kid, at least) strong. He was inquisitive and good company when they weren’t bickering. He was the first human friend she had made in seven years.

Manon swallowed, and stared at the floor. “Very.”

“Then don’t you think you should be stronger if you wish to protect him?” the director asked. Manon looked back up at him, but his gaze hadn’t moved from her. “If you want to fulfill your wish, become the strongest. Unless I’m mistaken, right now it seems that your wish is to protect that boy. Is that it?”

It only took a second for her to decide on her answer. “Yes.”

“Then if you want to do that—if you want to keep him here—then prove your strength to me.” The director stroked his pyroar’s mane again. “I will gather ten mega evolution users. You are to fight them, and you can use any pokémon that you wish. But if you lose even once, then you will return the Key Stone and Venusaurite to me, and I don’t care what you and the boy do after that. Do I make myself clear?”

Manon nodded, and bowed once to him. “Yes, sir. I won’t let you down, I swear!”

The director smiled. “See to it that you don’t.”

**\- - -**

Manon took Alan to the battlefield with her (holding his hand the whole way, despite his grousing), and he sat and watched as she completed the first four rounds with minimal difficulty (battling primarily with Fushi-kun, due to his Mega Evolution capability, though she had used Hari-san once as well). When the fourth round finished up and Manon tended to Fushi-kun with a super potion, Alan stood up and approached her.

“Why are you staking your Key Stone and Venusaurite on this?” he asked, before she had a chance to greet him.

Her smile fell. “What?”

“That pink-haired woman—Malva—she told me you were staking your Key Stone and Venusaurite on this during the last battle,” Alan said. “Why?”

Manon had been focusing on the battle, and hadn’t noticed Malva enter the room—but it didn’t matter, really, if Alan knew. Manon shrugged, and slipped the super potion back in her pocket. “Doesn’t matter,” she said, and she kept her tone light. “Because I’m going to win.”

“You don’t know that,” Alan said, and she scowled at him. “And anyway, I don’t think that you’re the only one who should be training. Lizardon and I should be, too. You were right before—we’re weak right now, and—”

“You’re weak, so that’s why you need to stick with me and do what you’re told,” Manon said, and he glowered at her from beneath his dark fringe. “Go back over there by the wall while you’re at it; the next battle is set to start soon.”

“If I’m weak, sitting by the wall won’t help me get stronger,” Alan said, and he picked up his charmander as the little thing began to growl at her. “The only way we’ll get stronger is if we train and practice. It’s the only way we’ll gain the strength to protect ourselves—and you, too. Isn’t that why—”

“You’re a _child_ ,” Manon said. “It’s not up to you to protect yourself or anyone else from things like—like legendary pokémon, and mega evolution users, and—”

“I’m two years older than the average starting trainer, and that doesn’t answer my question. Are you—”

“You don’t need your question answered. You just need to listen to me and do what I say. We’re travel buddies, aren’t we? And as the older travel buddy, I think—”

“If we’re traveling _partners,_ then you should listen to me,” Alan interrupted hotly. “My opinion matters too—”

“ _Your_ ‘opinion’ nearly got all of us killed back in Hoenn!” Manon snapped, her voice rising before she could stop it. Alan took a step back, his eyes wide, as if she had slapped him. Her anger crumbled, though the stress lodged in her gut didn’t. “Can’t you see that I just don’t want anything to happen to—?”

“Right. I’m sorry. I should have known better,” Alan said, glaring at the floor. The door across the room opened, and Manon’s next challenger entered the field. “I’ll get out of your way. Good luck with your training.”

“Alan,” Manon said, but he turned and ran away from her—not toward his previous spot, where she could keep an eye on him, but toward the door. “Alan! Wait! Don’t—!”

But the door slammed shut behind him, and Manon heard her opponent’s pokéball open. With a heavy heart, she turned back to the battlefield.

It would be fine. Alan would be fine. She felt confident that he would at least stay in Fleur-De-Lis Labs, and nothing bad could happen to him there. He was safe, and she could talk to him afterward. She was sure of it.

**\- - -**

One day, Manon would learn to stop thinking that everything was going to be fine when it never, ever was.

She successfully completed her trial, but the euphoria of victory was quickly doused when a pair of Flare grunts led Manon and the director to the hospital ward, outside of which Alan was standing with a locked jaw and tear-filled eyes aimed at the ground. Manon went to him immediately, her hands on his shoulders as she tried to look in his eyes.

“Alan,” she said, and he turned away from her, his breath hitching as he fought not to cry. “Alan, what happened? What’s wrong? Where’s Lizardon?”

He didn’t answer her. Instead, he merely sniffed and continued to stare at the ground, trembling violently beneath her fingers.

“His charmander is in there,” the director said, and Manon glanced at him briefly to see that he was pointing in through the hospital ward’s window. She looked up, and her stomach turned over at what she saw; inside of a thermal fire-type incubator lay Lizardon, his tail flame pitifully low, an odd green glow surrounding him. A Nurse Joy was examining him, taking notes on a paper attached to a clipboard, adjusting one of the monitors attached to the incubator as she went.

“What happened?” Manon repeated, and she tore her eyes away from the unconscious Lizardon to look back at Alan. He still didn’t look up at her, and no sound escaped him. “Alan—?”

“Alan!”

Manon, Alan, and the director turned as Professor Sycamore came charging down the hallway from the other side, Steven Stone on his heels. Manon released her hold on Alan’s shoulders to stand up and back as the professor neared, and Alan wiped at his eyes with the back of his arm.

“Alan, what happened?” Professor Sycamore asked, and he looked quickly at the hospital ward’s window, taking in the sight of Lizardon unconscious in the incubator for just a moment before he looked back to Alan. “How—?”

Alan swallowed hard and wrapped his arms around his stomach, and Manon considered telling the professor that he wasn’t going to get a response. Before she could, Alan did speak up, his voice tiny and quaking.

“We were . . . exploring. I . . . I was curious about the rest of the building, so we decided to take a look. We found a room . . . looked like a lab. They were doing experiments in there, to a—a pokémon, I think. One of the scientists saw me, and pushed me out of the room. Lizardon was still inside, but the door was shut. I couldn’t get back in. And then—” Alan’s lower lip trembled violently, his breath hitching again as he took another and tears finally slipped down his cheeks. “And then it opened and—th-they had Lizardon, and he—!”

A sob escaped Alan before he could stifle it, and Professor Sycamore pulled him into a one-armed hug. As Alan buried his face against the professor’s shirt, Professor Sycamore looked toward the director with a cold stare.

“You’re Director Lysandre, correct? What experiments were you working on?”

“All experiments we conduct here at Fleur-De-Lis Labs are for peaceful purposes,” the director said, and Manon looked back toward the window—back toward Lizardon—as an idea occurred to her. “I cannot say for sure which experiment the charmander got into, however—”

“Could it have something to do with the mega evolution energy?”

Manon spoke up before she could stop herself, and all eyes—including Alan’s, red-rimmed and wet as they were—turned to hear. The director’s gaze was the most striking, and Manon—her nerves taking the reins as they always did—plowed on beneath it.

“If the experiment that Lizardon found was for the peaceful purposes, then—then was it something to do with the mega evolution energy? If so, could mega evolution energy cure him—wake him up? Because I wouldn’t mind finding more—finding extra, finding enough to cure him. If I can get more mega evolution energy, then perhaps we can use that to save Lizardon. I don’t know if it would work, and I know that I can be clumsy and I’m not that fast at gathering mega evolution energy, but if I worked a bit faster and a bit harder at it, then—!”

The director nodded, and Manon felt her heart soar. “Yes, that could work. Provided you gathered enough and were quick about it, we could use that energy to help heal that charmander.”

Alan pulled away from Professor Sycamore and looked toward her, the tear tracks on his cheeks still evident under the fluorescent lights. “Really?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “You can—you can save Lizardon?”

“Definitely,” Manon said, and she forced a smile for his sake before she extended her pinky toward him. “I swear it. You can definitely count on me.”

Alan hesitated for a moment, but then linked his pinky with hers. Manon shook their hands once before she released him, and he let his arm fall back to his side. Manon looked back at the director.

“Director, I’m heading out now. If Tro-san carries me I should be able to make good progress before dark.”

The director nodded to her. “Good luck, Manon. We’ll await your progress.”

“Thank you.”

Manon turned to head back around the corridor, but she made it no more than two steps before Alan crashed into her from behind, his arms wrapping tightly around her middle in a fierce hug.

“Please,” she heard him mumble into her back, “save Lizardon, and . . . come back.”

Manon closed her eyes, fighting hard against the impulse that—even now—was telling her to take him by the hand and bring him along with her, keeping him close by so that she could keep an eye on him. But he would be safe in the labs, probably wouldn’t leave Lizardon’s side, and so she merely nodded and patted his hands once to get him to let her go.

“I will,” she said, and she turned to pat her tearful, foolish, brave-hearted little brother on the head. “I promise.”


End file.
